We plan to use two novel emerging magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to quantitatively assess the stage of osteoarthritis (OA) in the human hip joint. The results of this study will give further insight into the early degenerative changes of the hip and may be beneficial in the selection of surgical procedures to treat hip OA. These MRI techniques may overcome the weaknesses and limitations of traditional OA staging using radiography. The first method will use an MR contrast agent composed of gadolinium to alter the inherent T1 value of cartilage. The T1 value of cartilage with contrast is related to the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) distribution in cartilage. Loss of GAG content is seen during the initial stages of OA. The second method calculates the T2 value of cartilage which is sensitive to the disruption of collagen fibers and change in water content of cartilage seen during the initial stages of OA. Surprisingly, a comprehensive study of these two new and promising MRI imaging methods has not been performed to correlate in-vivo T1 and T2 values with quantitative in-vitro biochemical and biomechanical characteristics of cartilage across the stages of OA. In addition, the introduction of T1 and T2 maps into clinical practice has been limited at best. [unreadable] [unreadable]